Rancho Obi-Wan Becomes Non-Profit Inspired By The Force Of Imagination

By Mike — Sunday, December 18, 2011

RANCHO OBI-WAN (ROW),homeof the largest privately held Star Wars™ collection in the world, is now a California nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to serve the public through the collection, conservation, exhibition, and interpretation of Star Wars memorabilia.

Fans can now play an active part at Rancho Obi-Wan by getting memberships, taking tours, planning events, and making donations. “The best part of Star Wars for me has been getting to meet and become friends with thousands of enthusiastic fans all over the world,” says collection owner, Steve Sansweet, who is President and Chief Executive Officer of Rancho Obi-Wan, Inc. “The saga has become a multigenerational touchstone of popular culture worldwide, and one role of the museum and its outreach program is to show how that happened.”

Sansweet started collecting before the movie premiered in May, 1977. The collection is estimated to contain over 200,000 items and is constantly growing. Newly remodeled, the museum’s nearly 9,000 square feet houses 35 years of Star Wars treasures.

Fans can join ROW at one of the various membership levels: Initiate ($35), Apprentice ($75), Knight ($200), Master ($600),or Grand Master ($1,300).Three of the membership levels allow fans to tour the collection with host Steve Sansweet; they can also rent the museum for events ranging from business meetings to weddings. (The museum is not open to the general public except through reserved membership tours.) All annual members will get an exclusive membership kit along with a quarterly email newsletter. ROW is also planning members-only events and other special activities.

Individuals and companies will be able to make donations to help with ROW's educational and creative activities, its gifts of tours to other non-profits and charitable fund-raisers, its public outreach, and the maintenance of the building and collection. These contributors will be recognized on a "Wall of Stars" at ROW.